Apple Patents a Foldable iPhone With ‘Self-Healing’ Screen

Imagine if you dropped your phone , and instead of bemoaning its new dented macrocosm , you watch as the silver screen fixed itself before your oculus , as if see the X - Men ’s Wolverine repair his trunk after a conflict that would kill a mortal human . A new Apple patent offers something slimly less prominent , describing a folding iPhone with a “ self - bring around ” stratum on the screen that will automatically fill up in dents or other bruises .

The patent for Electronic Devices with Flexible Display Cover Layers indicate us what Apple may be try out to do to really aid any potential foldaway iPhone put up out . Like other foldables , this machine would have a hinge and a flexible display binding bed . These presentation on phones such as the SamsungGalaxy FlipandFold 5 , thePixel Fold , or theOnePlus Openare thinner than what you ’ll normally notice on a flagship phone , allowing them to deform . This also causes them to be far more susceptible to bumps or scratches . Apple , for its part , shares a few detail about how the phone could have a “ self - mend material ” coating on top of the filmdom that “ may fill the dent even without extraneous intervention . ”

Or , in some other design , the earpiece would provide heat , Light Within , or some electrical flow to the surface to stimulate that healing process . This could let in “ gossamer conductors ” that wake the showing cover layer when the twist is charge or when user activate it . This foldaway designing might not be just a headphone but any laptop computer or tablet , according to the letters patent . Apple has previously filedpatentsdetailing ego - heal iPhones , though that was n’t in the context of a folding display .

Imagine if this screen could flex and heal itself, like some demented product placement in the latest Deadpool movie.

Imagine if this screen could flex and heal itself, like some demented product placement in the latest Deadpool movie.Photo: Florence Ion / Gizmodo

The letters patent was first spotted by the hawks atPatently Apple , along with two dozen newly cede patent of invention for the Cupertino , California party . As usual with patent applications , none of this mean we ’ll see it in a product shortly , but it does seem to argue Apple is thinking somewhat hard about a foldable product . Last twelvemonth , we picked up on a excogitation for afoldable iPhone with a falls display . Not to mention , there have been a few other paper thatApple is plan a grapple foldableand a foldableiPad .

The patent does n’t trace what Apple would use for its ego - heal level other than “ a polymer or any other desire cloth having ego - heal property . ” However , that finish may “ extend across the entire exterior surface of the display cover . ”

LG previouslyshowed offthe opening for a ego - heal back plate on itscurved G Flex headphone . There ’s been some talk of self - heal presentation late , with psychoanalyst firm CCS Insightnotingthe technology for “ nanocoatings ” that fill in gaps when the underlie layer is expose to air could be on their fashion in the next few year . The general concept behind self - healing is n’t that monumental knife scars will stitch back together before your eyes , but it would reduce the harm from pocket-sized scratches on sensitive screen like those envision in Foldable . That wo n’t stop me from imagining my iPhone 14 Pro literally pop bullets out of its case like it were the previous gag in the upcomingDeadpool & Wolverine .

Image: USPTO